Wolverines Sweep Big Ten Awards
4/23/2025 11:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team swept the major Big Ten awards, with Julia Fliegner being named Player of the Year, Emily Sartz-Lunde earning Freshman of the Year and Ronni Bernstein being named Coach of the Year as the conference announced its postseason honors on Wednesday (April 23).
In addition, Fliegner and Piper Charney earned All-Big Ten first-team honors. Lily Jones grabbed a spot on the second team, with Sartz-Lunde and Jessica Bernales earning all-freshman laurels.
Fliegner is the seventh Wolverine to earn Player of the Year honors after going 28-5 in singles action. In dual matches, Fliegner holds a 12-1 record, highlighted by an 11-1 mark at the top of the lineup. Currently ranked No. 5 in singles, Fliegner became just the second Wolverine to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship, earning All-America honors for the first time in the process. She was named Michigan's female recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor and is currently eighth all-time in singles wins with 108. Her All-Big Ten first-team citation is the third of her career.
Sartz-Lunde is the eighth Wolverine in program history to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while also garnering a spot on the first-ever all-freshman team. The freshman from Oslo compiled a 22-7 overall singles record, going 11-3 in dual matches. She went a perfect 7-0 in Big Ten singles matches and has won her last eight matches. She is currently ranked No. 82 in singles by the ITA.
Bernstein picks up her fourth straight and 10th overall Big Ten Coach of the Year honor after guiding Michigan to its third straight Big Ten championship behind a 13-0 record. The Wolverines have won 15 straight matches and have been ranked as high as No. 2 this season, finishing the regular season with a 21-3 record. Her 10 honors is the most by a women's tennis coach in Big Ten history.
Charney was honored by the conference for the first time in her career, moving up to No. 2 in the singles lineup after playing mostly at No. 6 last season. Charney, ranked No. 25 in singles, strung together her second consecutive 30-win season with a 31-8 overall record. Charney went 17-2 in dual matches with a 9-1 Big Ten record. She participated in the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship this past fall for the first time in her career.
Jones, who also was Michigan's Sportsmanship honoree, earned a spot on the second team after compiling a 27-10 overall singles record and a 13-5 dual-match record. Jones went 6-2 in Big Ten action and is currently ranked No. 41 in singles and No. 20 in doubles with Bernales. Jones played in both the 2024 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships as the only Wolverine to earn berths in both tournaments this past fall.
Bernales joins Sartz-Lunde on the all-freshman team following a 17-11 regular-season record. Anchoring Michigan's bottom of the lineup, Bernales went 9-5 in dual matches with an 8-3 mark at No. 6. She leads U-M in doubles wins, going 28-9 on the doubles court. In addition to her ranking with Jones, she is ranked No. 34 in doubles with Charney.
Michigan is the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, held at The Ojai Valley Tennis Club at Libbey Park in Ojai, Calif. U-M received a first-round bye and will face either Iowa or Maryland in the quarterfinals tomorrow (Thursday, April 24) at 9 a.m. PT.
Players Mentioned
